{"id":29595,"date":"2023-10-04T17:51:42","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T17:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=29595"},"modified":"2024-03-01T18:26:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T18:26:29","slug":"the-lefts-abortion-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/the-lefts-abortion-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Left’s Abortion Misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Mary FioRito, October 3, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio\u2019s Issue 1<\/a> ballot initiative, on which voters will decide on Nov. 7, is already contentious enough. The proposed constitutional amendment would enshrine a right to abortion<\/a> in Ohio\u2019s state constitution and remove virtually every safeguard, including required parental involvement in a minor\u2019s abortion. But now, a television ad<\/a> featuring a couple who traveled to another state for a late-second-trimester abortion after receiving an adverse prenatal diagnosis has further fanned the flames \u2014 and caused immense confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The details are heartbreaking: After a long struggle with infertility and spending thousands of dollars on IVF treatments, Beth and Kyle Long were expecting their first child, a little girl, whom they nicknamed \u201cStar\u201d \u2014\u00a0because in her earliest ultrasound image, she looked like a little, twinkling star. Beth Long\u2019s pregnancy proceeded normally until, at 18 weeks, Star was diagnosed with a rare condition, a fetal malformation called limb body wall complex, sometimes referred to generally in medical literature as \u201cbody stalk anomaly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In body stalk anomaly<\/a>, the abdominal wall does not develop, allowing the unborn child\u2019s internal organs to form outside of the abdominal cavity, remaining attached directly to the placenta. The condition is so severe that the baby almost always dies while in utero, or in the perinatal period (the first four weeks following birth) \u2014 although there are a few<\/a> documented cases of long-term survival<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ad in which the Longs are featured, Beth Long states, \u201cAn abortion was our only option.\u201d Her husband then notes, \u201cBut the government here in Ohio took that decision away from us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s attention-grabbing for sure. But it is also untrue that the current Ohio abortion law prohibits abortion under the circumstances faced by the Longs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cheartbeat\u201d abortion law in Ohio, which is what the ad implies was responsible, did not explicitly prohibit Beth Long\u2019s abortion. As an extensive CNN report<\/a> on the couple\u2019s plight explicitly acknowledges, \u201c[Beth Long\u2019s] doctor explained … it was legal for them to have the abortion\u201d they wanted. Beth\u2019s doctor even made arrangements for a doctor in nearby Columbus to do the \u201ccomplicated and risky\u201d procedure, and they signed the forms necessary to begin the 24-hour waiting period that was required by Ohio law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason the Longs didn\u2019t undergo the abortion in Ohio? Their health insurance provider refused to cover it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are numerous provisions in Ohio\u2019s statutory scheme that function as a kind of state \u2018Hyde Amendment\u2019 to protect Ohio\u2019s public grants and tax funding from paying for elective abortions. This includes the statute regulating state funds \u2018for nontherapeutic abortion benefits,\u2019\u201d according to Rachel Citak, a civil rights and constitutional law attorney licensed in Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citak noted that since Beth Long was a state of Ohio employee, her healthcare coverage was subject to the limitations of a 2011 statute restricting public funds<\/a> for use in abortions. Because abortion is an elective procedure, it is not funded through insurance policies for public employees unless a pregnant woman\u2019s life is endangered, or in cases of rape or incest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Body stalk anomaly is not considered a life-threatening condition to the mother and does not generally pose serious risks to the mother\u2019s health. \u201cIt’s all very patient specific,\u201d Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified obstetrician\/gynecologist who practices in Indiana, told me. \u201cFor any anomalies that cause a large head circumference or enlargement of the baby’s body to an extent the mother cannot deliver vaginally, you would likely need to make a vertical incision on the uterus for a cesarean section during delivery,\u201d she noted. \u201cBut those are done all the time, and are managed in such a way so as to make every effort to safeguard the mother\u2019s future fertility and overall reproductive health. In cases like this, you would address any risk factors in the same way you would in any normal pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perinatal hospice, a specialized program<\/a> that provides minimal medical intervention<\/a> and comfort care for babies who are born dying, might also have provided additional closure and comfort to the Longs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA couple who is given an adverse prenatal diagnosis obviously experiences a wide range of emotions,\u201d said Dr. Colleen A. Malloy, a neonatologist at Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital in Chicago. There is, of course, shock and disbelief. There is often concern that a baby might suffer pain or discomfort. However, the care for infants born with life-limiting conditions has been greatly improved with the help of families and providers. It\u2019s important that the time the parents have in these circumstances is made as peaceful as possible, with consideration of the family’s wishes and concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than waiting for their daughter to pass away naturally, either in utero (which occurs often for babies with body stalk anomaly) or shortly after birth \u2014 both circumstances in which their insurance would have covered their medical costs \u2014 the Longs opted instead to travel to nearby Pennsylvania for an abortion procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be sure, the Longs\u2019 choice was a heart-wrenching one. But it was not one that was necessitated by Ohio\u2019s abortion law, but rather by insurance coverage restrictions on elective procedures. Insurance provisions that restrict public funds for use in elective abortions are supported<\/a> by a majority of people, both in Ohio and throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Hallan FioRito is an attorney and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. She writes from Chicago.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Mary FioRito, October 3, 2023 Ohio\u2019s Issue 1 ballot initiative, on which voters will decide on Nov. 7, is already contentious enough. The proposed constitutional amendment would enshrine a right to abortion in Ohio\u2019s state constitution and remove virtually every safeguard, including required parental involvement in a minor\u2019s abortion. But now, a television ad featuring a couple who traveled to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Left's Abortion Misinformation - Cincinnati Right to Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/the-lefts-abortion-misinformation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Left's Abortion Misinformation - Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Mary FioRito, October 3, 2023 Ohio\u2019s Issue 1 ballot initiative, on which voters will decide on Nov. 7, is already contentious enough. 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